DATE=10/7/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAKISTAN - RELIGIOUS KILLINGS (L)
NUMBER=2-254773
BYLINE=AYAZ GUL
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A bomb has exploded on a passenger bus in the
Pakistani city of Karachi, killing at least one person
and injuring many others. At least 38 people have
died across Pakistan in terrorist attacks and
religious violence during the past 10 days. There are
no claims of responsibility. Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif says those involved in the sectarian violence
have been trained in camps in neighboring Afghanistan.
TEXT: Pakistani authorities say a powerful bomb
ripped through the passenger bus during Karachi's
evening rush hour. They say some of the people
injured in the attack are in critical condition.
Police are calling the blast a terrorist attack, but
it is not clear if the explosion is linked to the
latest round of sectarian violence across Pakistan.
The violence between Sunni and Shiite groups has left
dozens of people dead in less than two weeks. There
have been no claims of responsibility for any of the
religious killings, but extremist Shiites and those
from the Sunni sect, the majority in Pakistan, are
blaming one another for the killings.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told reporters those who
were arrested for the sectarian killings have admitted
they were trained at terrorist camps in Afghanistan.
/// SHARIF ACT IN URDU, FADE UNDER ///
Mr. Sharif says Pakistan has asked the dominant
Taleban Islamic movement to immediately shut down the
camps. The Prime Minister says his country has made
it clear to Taleban authorities that the presence of
such camps on Afghan territory is not acceptable to
Pakistan. Mr. Sharif did not say who is running the
camps.
Afghanistan's Taleban group says there are no
terrorist camps in the territory it controls.
Mr. Sharif's allegations have taken observers by
surprise, because Pakistan has been a strong supporter
of the Taleban movement, and one of the three
countries to recognize the group's government in
Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister's statement follows repeated
accusations by the United States that the Taleban has
allowed Islamic terrorists led by Saudi dissident
Osama bin Laden to operate camps in Afghanistan.
Washington accuses Mr. Bin Laden of planning last
year's bomb attacks on two U-S embassies in east
Africa, which left more than 200 people dead.
The Taleban has rejected several U-S requests for Mr.
Bin Laden to be turned over for trial.
Washington has imposed sanctions on the Taleban, which
controls 90 percent of the war-ravaged country. The
United States is urging other countries to take
similar action unless the Islamic Taleban hands over
Osama bin Laden. (SIGNED)
NEB/AG/WTW
07-Oct-1999 14:39 PM EDT (07-Oct-1999 1839 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.